Santorum huddles with conservatives

Rick Santorum huddled in Virginia Thursday with a group of longtime conservative activists in what several participants described as a late attempt to rally the right and block Mitt Romney’s nomination from becoming inevitable.

The former Pennsylvania senator met in Tysons Corner with a crew of GOP fixtures, led by Reagan-era activists Richard Viguerie and Rebecca Hagelin, to discuss a path forward in the presidential race. The Santorum campaign confirmed that the activists had reached out to request time with him.

Story Continued Below

After losing the Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington D.C. primaries this week, Santorum has been battling calls for him to withdraw from the race. The group he met with today includes a number of hard-line ideological stalwarts who remain committed to stopping Romney, however quixotic that mission is becoming.

Former Family Research Council chief Gary Bauer, who was present at the sit-down with Santorum, called it a “strategy meeting to discuss how Sen. Santorum prevails.”

“I would say the consensus in the room is, we continue to believe that Sen. Santorum has the best message that is most likely in November to be a winning message,” said Bauer, who ran for president himself in 2000. “And so because of that, we want to make sure that we’re doing all the things that need to be done so that he will be successful.”

Asked whether he would characterize the mood as one of optimism or pessimism, Bauer answered: “Realism.”

Viguerie, the legendary Republican direct-mail strategist, said the conservative group pitched ideas to Santorum on how to turn around his campaign.

“Most of us don’t think we need small course corrections, we need to come up with some big, bold ideas,” Viguerie said. He declined to be more specific but said to expect changes in Santorum’s approach “in the next seven to 10 days.”

“He’s got to get control of the narrative,” said the old conservative warrior. “Right now, he doesn’t have control of it and the establishment Republicans and the media are telling everybody it’s over with. That’s the thing you’ve got to deal with. He’s got to get access to a microphone.”

For Santorum, regaining command of the race is easier said than done, and it’s unclear whether the conservatives with whom he met Thursday are in any position to help. Santorum has kept a small group of advisers around him during the 2012 campaign and the 1980s-vintage activists have not been part of his inner circle. It’s unclear how much influence this group has over Santorum or how directly they’re engaged in shaping his strategy.

Conservative operatives both in and outside the Tysons Corner session said Santorum is determined to stay in the hunt at least a while longer, though Viguerie acknowledged it would be difficult to continue without winning Pennsylvania’s April 24 primary.